Comparison of the four major drawing methods for sheet metal parts

2025-07-24

The metal wire drawing process is to grind the material, perform mechanical movement back and forth on the metal surface, and chemically corrode it, so that the surface of the workpiece has a layer of macro texture with uniform thickness distribution.

Wire drawing can make the metal surface have a non-mirror-like metallic luster, which has a very strong decorative effect. It can be used on many types of metal products such as stainless steel, aluminum, copper and iron. Wire drawing can be divided into manual wire drawing and mechanical wire drawing. Common mechanical wire drawing methods include flat-pressed abrasive belt wire drawing, non-woven roller brush wire drawing, wide abrasive belt wire drawing and centerless grinding wire drawing. Let's take a look at how they are all drawn~

1.Flat-pressure abrasive belt drawing

Flat-pressure abrasive belt wire drawing is a very common wire drawing method. The workpiece is fixed on the mold, and the abrasive belt runs at high speed. There is a pneumatically controlled pressure block on the back of the abrasive belt that can move up and down. After pressing down, the abrasive belt is attached to the surface of the processed metal for wire drawing.

Flat-pressure abrasive belt drawing is suitable for small-area surfaces that require flat drawing, such as the drawing of camera shells, phone shells, etc. The lines produced by this kind of drawing are usually continuous straight lines.

In addition to automatic flat wire drawing machines, there is also a type of mechanical equipment that requires manual operation.The object doesn't move, but the handheld sanding belt mechanism moves.Holding a pressure block to press the abrasive belt for wire drawing

2.Non-woven fabric roller brush drawing

Non-woven roller brush drawing means that the workpiece is conveyed by a conveyor belt through a non-woven roller brush, and the roller brush rotates at high speed to draw the workpiece surface. The wire drawing can be done in two ways: roller brush vibration and roller brush non-vibration. At the same time, different processing speeds can be used to produce different lengths of lines.

Non-woven fabric roller brush drawing is suitable for large-area drawing. The drawing surface can have a certain curve, or even a small boss such as text logo, etc. It is often used in notebook alloy panels, keyboard panels, mobile phone LCD frames, battery covers and camera protection panels, etc.

3.Wide belt drawing

Wide belt drawing is the most traditional wire drawing method. The belt rotates at high speed, and the plate passes through the belt from the conveyor belt for grinding and drawing. Usually, stainless steel plates, aluminum alloys and other plates are made into wire drawing semi-finished products so that they can be further made into products with the plate as raw material.

Wide abrasive belt wire drawing is suitable for flat wire drawing, especially for plate processing. It is often used for wire drawing of stainless steel elevator door panels, stainless steel counters, aluminum alloy chassis, etc. The lines drawn in this way are usually very thin and short, commonly known as snowflake patterns.

4.Centerless grinding and drawing

Centerless wire drawing is a process of wire drawing using a centerless grinding method, and the grinding products used are non-woven wire drawing wheels or abrasive belts.

Centerless grinding and drawing is suitable for drawing round tubular workpieces, such as handles, etc. The wire lines drawn in this way are usually short wire lines. The length of the wire lines is related to the rotation speed of the workpiece, the rotation speed of the grinding product and the grinding product itself.

Different wire drawing methods will produce different wire patterns. Usually, wire drawing patterns can be divided into straight lines, random lines, wavy lines and spiral lines.